Cheers and Jeers – Nov 18

It’s Friday. So we close out the "Week That Was" with our latest volume of Cheers and Jeers.

This week, I slam on Kesler and AV while doling out some shap to Marek + Wyshynski. Oh… and I take MYSELF down a peg.

JEERS to Ryan Kesler. I’m a big fan of Kesler. He’s my favourite player on the team, and one of my favourite all-time Canucks. But he’s been just awful this year. I understand that he’s recovering from a fairly important surgery. And that’s really the source of my JEERS. JEERS to Kesler from coming back to play WAY too soon. It is clear that he was not ready to play, his game is struggling and so is the team. Again, while I loves me some Kes, he is quite probably the most arrogant, egotistical Canuck on the roster. He came back too soon, because he felt that he was good enough to help, because the team was struggling without him. As if he was a white knight that was going to rescue the team. So far, that’s not been the case, and he’s done very little to help the team. Biggest area of proof? Ryan Kesler has ONE point at even strength this year. ONE. That’s one more than I have. Further proof of his selfish play this year: Have you seen Ryan Kesler pass the puck when he’s rushing in the offensive zone? No? Neither have I. He has to realize his limitations right now. Hopefully his lull in play this week will help with his recovery. But he also has to start distributing more. A LOT MORE

JEERS to ME (YEAH! I’m calling MYSELF out) for agreeing with John Garrett. Garrett is the biggest homer colour analyst this side of Boston and sees everything through Canucks-coloured glasses. I mean EVERYTHING. That includes anything goalie-related, hot wings and Kraft Peanut Butter. That said, Garrett was on both TEAM 1040 and the new Marek vs Wyshynski show to discuss the Lucic/Miller incident. Not only did he NOT crack down on Lucic (he didn’t outright defend him like Moj did), but he actually faulted Miller for the incident. Garrett said that same thing that I said earlier this week… If you are a goalie afraid of contact, stay in your net. In fact he pointed to Miller’s own quote, where he said that Lucic "outweighs me by 50 pounds". Garrett rightly stated that if you’re a skinny goalie like that, then stay in your net! I hate agreeing at any level with Captain Canuck Peanut Butter, but we’re on the same page on this one. DAMNIT.

CHEERS to Brett Wilson. The Canadian entrepreneur, philanthropist, and former Dragon’s Den panelist announced that he has purchased a minority share in the Nashville Predators. Good on Wilson and good for the Predators. I may be in the minority here (see what I did there?) but I think Nashville is a pretty decent hockey market. That was proven last season during the playoffs. As the Predators played the Canucks in the second round, the building was full, loud and jumping. Wilson is getting in on this organization just at the right time, as their ownership struggles have evened out (at least in the public eye), so now that things have stabilized there, it’s a good time to invest in a market and a team that is finally growing.

JEERS to Canucks coach Alain Vigneault for demoting Cody Hodgson during the Canucks 5-1 loss to the Blackhawks on Wednesday. Hodgson did not have his best game, admittedly. In fact, it was probably Hodgson’s shakiest game this year. That said, Hodgson has been the Canucks most consistent forward this year and the nicest surprise for the team. He had one notably bad shift where he handled directly in front of his own net and nearly lost the puck. He recovers but lost the puck again int he neutral, leading to a Hawks scoring chance. Hodgson was pretty promptly demoted to the fourth line in favour of Dale Wiese. Hodgson has EARNED a mulligan this year. In fact, he’s earned a couple. There was no need to shift him down. And AV’s excuse that he felt that Wiese was playing better than Cody — BOOOOOOOO. That’s seriously weak. Cut the crap, AV. Keep Cody playing. In fact, he SHOULD be playing in the top 6, given his consistency relative to other players right now.

CHEERS to Brit Wong and Drew Burant. They got married and filmed it. But here’s the thing. They’re both BIG hockey fans and got married on the ice at Killarney Ice Rink. Brit’s a Canucks fan while Drew is an Oilers fan. And their video is hockey-loving romantic’s dream. Here’s the video: